Silvery Wisps of a Dream
by Page Library Page
Summary: When Ed is taken to the hospital, questions need answers... Who killed Alphonse, who wants to kill Ed, and why? The person for the job, one Flame Alchemist.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: FMA does NOT belong to me and I will not be make even one penny for the time I am putting into this story.**

**"Yeah, she was crying all night after she wrote the disclaimer..."**

**"Please, excuse the muse. He is just a stupid, little blonde guy that enjoys throwing 'Writer's Blocks' at me in the middle of a chapter."**

**"Well, at least I can throw things." Said blonde guy snaps.**

**"Anyways, we'll ignore the muse, whose name happens to be Lueca, and get on with the story."**

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CHAPTER ONE

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mustang, but we can't let you in there." The nurse said. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep the Colonel out of the ER.

"Why the hell not?!" Roy Mustang yelled, his fingers clenching reflexively. The hospital staff was very lucky that he wasn't wearing his gloves at the moment or the building might not be standing.

"Sir, you are not helping matters..." the nurse trailed off, cringing; both out of fear of the man in front of her and because of the terrified screams coming from the ER.

Inside the ER, doctors and nurses frantically tried to keep the small boy still as they operated on him. If he didn't stop struggling, he would die from blood loss before they even had a chance to save his life.

"You, McArthur! Go find someone he trusts! We need him to calm down so we can operate." Doctor Phillips, the senior doctor, ordered.

The young doctor, McArthur, nodded as he rushed out of the ER.

"Is there anyone out here who knows the blonde kid screaming his lungs out?!" He cried out, as he burst through the ER's outer doors.

Roy leapt to his feet. "Yes, damnit! I know him. His name is Edward Elric and he is 12 years old. Now, let me see him!!" He ordered.

"Thank god!" McArthur said. "Please, sir, come this way."

McArthur led Roy through the doors and was about to warn the man about the boy's condition, but he never got the chance.

"Edward Elric!" Roy yelled, "What the hell happened to you? Where the hell is Alphonse?" He asked, his voice softening at the scene before him.

"McArthur, is this him?" Doctor Phillips asked, moving from where he had been trying to restrain Edward.

"Yes, Doctor Phillips."

And that was all that Dr. Phillips needed to know.

"Alright now, mister. I don't know who you are or how you know the kid and quite frankly, I don't give a damn." The old man started.

"What I do know is that you are the only one here that knows him. Now, we need him to calm down and to stop struggling, so we can operate.

"Do you think you can help?" He asked.

Roy was stunned into silence for a moment. The way this doctor spoke to him reminded him uncannily of his best friend. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Yes." Was all Roy said, before stepping past the ring of doctors and nurses to the bedside.

"Damnit, shrimp. Why can't you just ask for help once in awhile?" Roy whispered.

The 'Flame Alchemist' ignored Ed's frantic cries as he maneuvered the boy's failing body onto his own.

Ed had been attacked. Roy didn't know who or what had done it, but when he found them, he was going to kill them with his bare hands.

Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing. The small blonde's body was covered in cuts and bruises, the worst located on his back. You couldn't call the wounds on his back cuts, when in reality they were more like gashes or lacerations and his legs…

'Damn! They must really hate the kid.' Roy thought in anger, as he looked at the stump where Ed's auto-mail should have been. It looked like his attacker had torn it right from his body. And Ed's other leg was a burned, blackened mess.

As soon as Edward was lying on his chest, Roy motioned to the doctors.

Dr. Phillips was the first to step forward and he immediately started barking out orders to his staff. He was focused on one thing alone, saving the boy's life.

He didn't stop in wonder, as some of the others had, when the boy had ceased struggling as soon as he had been pulled into the man's arms. He had been working in the ER for a long enough time, that he recognized when a person just needed to be held by someone they could trust in order to calm them.

And this boy, this Edward Elric, had been in such a deep state of shock, that if they hadn't been able to find someone, he would have died in less than five minutes… just giving up his will to live.


	2. Chapter 2

**Silvery Wisps of a Dream  
Title:** Chapter 2  
**Author:** Page; Library Page  
**Disclaimer:** Blanket Disclaimer! I write stories for FUN, not money. I don't own any of the characters or places I write with, I just play with them. Again, NOT MINE!!  
**Author's Note:** I kept my original disclaimer for old-time's sake. My muse, Lueca, can certainly be a pain in the a**, if you know what I mean. He made me sit down and get back to work on this story.

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**Original Disclaimer:  
**_I must say that I won't earn any money from this story. *Looks around, warily, trying to spot Lueca.*_

"_Oh goody, he isn't around." Author sighs in relief._

"_How much you wanna bet on that?"_

"_Damn it, Lueca, just buzz off why don't you? And quit telling people I cry over when I write disclaimers!!!" Author shrieks, driving Lueca from the room with a variety of Sharpies._

* * *

For six hours, the doctors set bones, cleaned and stitched cuts, and tried to put Ed's back together. In the end, they'd had to improvise and graft skin to his back.

Now, Roy wasn't sure when, but sometime during the surgery, as Ed lay unconscious on his chest, he had given Dr. Phillips his name and rank. He figured that they had probably used the information to get validation that he was who he said he was.

"Mr. Mustang? We've finally stabilized his condition and we're going to move him into ICU. They have a private room open; would you prefer this or do you want us to find you a regular room?" Dr. Phillips asked.

From the way Roy had gripped the boy tighter every time he flinched, Dr. Phillips was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be leaving the boy's side in the near future. In a way, this was fantastic news, as Edward Elric would need someone to lean on; Dr. Phillips' only worry was that the small boy would become too dependent on the man and when he left, would become emotionally unstable.

"Private room, I think," Roy said, stroking Ed's hair as he spoke. A nurse had helped Roy wash the blonde strands; Roy was thankful for that, as it meant he wouldn't have to worry about it later.

"We'll make the room ready and have Edward moved within the hour," Dr. Phillips relied, "Is there anything you might need?"

Roy thought for a moment before answering, "Yes, could you have some coffee waiting in the room when we get there?" he asked.

"Of course, of course," Dr. Phillips answered with a tired smile, "and I'll make sure you have refills as often as you need."

About an hour ago, the nurses had tried to move Ed's unconscious body off of Roy. Their attempts had ended in disaster, as Ed had woken a little, started screaming, and fighting against the nurses in his terror.

Edward had started fighting as soon as he'd been moved from Roy's strong chest; this had resulted in some of his stitches coming out. Shocked, and a little scared, the three nurses had released Ed, allowing him to be pulled back into Roy's arms. The Flame Alchemist had cradled and rocked the boy until he'd calmed enough to have his stitches fixed.

"Guess that settles that," Roy had said, giving the nurses a shaky smile as Ed hid his face against the older man's neck.

So, by unspoken request (and agreement), Roy was made Edward's guardian during his hospital stay… however long that would be.

* * *

Coming out of his memories, Roy asked, "What's the extent of his injuries, exactly?" He watched as Dr. Phillips washed blood from his hands.

"Well, to be entirely honest," the doctor began, "I'm amazed that Mr. Elric... that Edward was able to survive such intense trauma to his spinal column," he sighed heavily, the past few hours weighing heavily on him.

"A normal person would have succumbed to the blood loss alone," he continued, "his back was a bloody mess; we barely managed to find enough un-injured skin to repair it. And his left leg had second degree burns from the ankle to about mid-thigh.

"We managed to heal most of the burns, but the skin will be overly sensitive for some time."

"Damn it! When I find whoever did this to him, I'm going to kill them with my bare hands," Roy snarled.

Ed whimpered pitifully in his arms and the Flame Alchemist gently ran his fingers through the boy's hair and over his face, soothing the boy once more. He whispered softly into Edward's ear, "its ok, Ed. I'm here; you're going to be ok. It'll be ok."

"When he's a little better, we'll have the hospital psychiatrist talk with him," Dr. Phillips said as Roy and Ed were wheeled from the ICU upstairs to their room.

* * *

Roy didn't sleep at all that night. Instead, he lay awake, cradling the battered and beaten body of Edward Elric against his chest, listening to the soft sounds of his breathing.

Roy wasn't a particularly religious man, but each time Ed cried out in fear, he prayed to god that the blonde would be alright.

He didn't want another innocent life to be lost on his watch; the doctor's had done all they could and now it was up to him to aid Edward in his recovery. He had to be enough, because there was no one else who could be there for Ed.

Roy was the only family Ed had.


End file.
